


Oh, Death

by ScreamQueenBee (screamqueenbee)



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: reaper au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-27
Updated: 2015-03-27
Packaged: 2018-03-19 21:37:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3625131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/screamqueenbee/pseuds/ScreamQueenBee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Right after Lian's death, Roy Harper receives a visitor no one expected</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oh, Death

Roy thought he was dreaming, the flutter of white in the periphery of his vision could not be what he thought it was. The thin humming coming from the doorway could not be the tune he knew it was.

He turned slowly, careful not the dump himself out of the rickety hospital chair, and there he was.

 

Jason Todd, looking smaller than the archer had ever seen him, but still the gangly mess of limbs and blond curls that Roy remembered him to be. He was even wearing the Robin costume, the only difference was that it was white from the heels of his pixie boots to the wings of his cape collar.

"This can’t be happening…" He said dumbly, rubbing his eyes the dispell the illusion of the dead sidekick standing in the room with him. The humming stopped.

The… ghost? stepped inside, closing the door behind him, smile soft and sadder than he’d every seen on someone. 

"I’m sorry that it’s happening at all. They had beautiful plans for her." He tilted his head to the bundle in Roy’s arm. "It wasn’t her time."

"Then why is she dead?" Roy yelled at the ghost, fighting anger and tears that he thought had left him. The boy in front of him flinched away at the volume and sudden movement, but Roy didn’t care. His daughter was /dead,/ no one deserved to be happy.

"I’m sorry, I don’t know. They only tell me where to go, not why I’m going there." He moved closer, close enough for Roy to see a heavy ring swinging slightly from a chain around the boy’s neck. "I’m sorry. You weren’t supposed to be awake. Not even supposed to know it was a job assigned to me” he laughed quietly, running a hand through his hair. “My boss is gonna kill me.”

"So, what are you, an angel or something?" The words sounded even more ridiculous when they were said out loud, but he needed to know.  
Jason laughed again, shaking his head.

"No, I’m just a low-level reaper. No wings for Jason Todd." He shrugged, walking closer. "They send me for kids, and our kind of people. Special cases too, I guess because I’m pretty good with little ones."

Okay, a reaper… Roy guessed he’d swallowed bigger lies, but he was willing to go with this one. He didn’t want to be alone the body of his daughter, who was dead because he couldn’t protect her.

Slowly, Jason pulled up his white gauntlets and gestured softly to Lian. “Can I? I won’t hurt her, I promise.”

Roy instinctively pulled the tiny body closer and Jason expression softened at the movement.

"Okay, whenever you’re ready." His voice was quiet and understanding and he sat cross-legged on the floor a little away from the grieving father with his elbows on his knees. Roy thought it was strange that he displayed the patience now that he did not show when he was alive.

They sat like that for an hour, the minutes ticking by and Roy slowly realizing that, no matter how much he hoped and willed and begged.,

Lian was gone and forever out of his reach. Jason fidgeted, playing with the tips of his pixie boots and changing positions half a dozen times. It was another half hour before Roy had the courage to voice the question that was replaying in his head since the ghost… reaper, whatever he was showed up.

"What’s it like?" Jason dropped the corner of the cape he’d been playing with and looked up. Roy could see his eyes for once. They were blue, lighter than Dick’s, closer to Bruce’s weird almost-white blue. "To die, I mean." Sure, he’d had his fair share of close calls, especially with the drugs, but this kid had actually fallen over that edge. He had shuffled off his mortal coil. He knew.

Jason sighed. “I’m really not supposed to say anything to you…”

"Please, kid." He pleaded, voice choked and broken from crying. "Jason, I need to know…"

He looked like he’d been asked to reveal the secrets of the universe which, Roy guessed, was kind of what he was doing. Jason’s too-light eyes moved from Roy to Lian, then to the floor while his fingers went up to play with the ring around his neck, hanging just below the wings of his cape-collar.

"… it’s just like falling asleep. You don’t feel anything and there’s nothing going through your head but how you can’t wait to do all the things you couldn’t do before. It’s perfect, just like everyone says."

Roy nodded, not sure if he believed that or not. But he had trusted this kid with his life once upon a time. “I think… I think I’m ready.”

The boy hesitated for a moment, almost like he was debating giving Roy more time, but he got up, dusting off the back of his scaly shorts. The weight against Roy was gone suddenly, and he realized that Jason had picked her up and was shushing her quietly, just like she was still alive.

He watched Jason carefully as the boy started to walk away, like any dad does when someone who isn’t them is holding their child.

"I want to go with you."

Jason half turned, looking over his shoulder with a sad expression. He held Lian like she was sleeping. “I’m sorry, Roy, it’s not your time yet.”

Roy scrambled to his feet and knocked his chair over, stumbling and grabbing at the boy’s cape-tails. His forehead came to rest on Jason’s thigh and his shoulders shook with quiet sobbing. “… Please. Jason, I’m begging you.”

"I can’t…" Jason tried to explain with a soft pat to the top of the ginger hair. "I’m already late as it is, Roy. Let go." He wasn’t sure is he meant let go of the his cape or of the death of his daughter, but he held on like the reaper was a lifeline.

"I can’t live without her…"

Jason Todd had never been good at comforting adults. Hell, he’d never really been that crazy about them ever before his death, but seeing his brother’s best friend so broken, it broke something inside him as well. He  sank cross-legged to the floor, pulling the redhead with his free arm until he could feel tears soak through the shoulder of his tunic.

"Roy, please listen to me. When your time comes, I will come for you myself and I’ll take you to your kid. I promise you."

"I’m ready now."

The reaper shook his head, blond waves bouncing just like they did when he was alive. “We’re not ready for you, though. You don’t get to decide when you’re done. There are too many people counting on you.”

Roy scoffed quietly. “Yeah, like who?”

"Like the countless people you have saved and will save in the future. Like Dinah and Oliver and  _Jade,_ who needs you even if she denies it.” He fiercely answered, white-gloved hand fisting in the back of the archer’s shirt. “You can’t die now, you idiot. You have way too much responsibility to take the easy way out.” It took all Jason’s self-control not to slap the hero for good measure. “That is  _never_ the answer.”

"Go," He pulled away a little, nodding like he understood what Jason was saying, which made his smile just a little. "Don’t want you to get in trouble with your boss."

Rising up on his scraped knees, he put a hand on the archer’s shoulder. “You’ll be okay. It’ll hurt like hell, and you’ll pull through it.” He held onto Lian more securely against his side as he stood. “But first, you need to sleep, okay?”

Barely a brush of fingertips along his temple and everything faded to out of focus and into black.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are always welcome
> 
> Catch me on tumblr at screamqueenbee.tumblr.com


End file.
